PESHAWAR (Dispatches) -- Pakistan’s air defense system intercepted and destroyed eight drones that entered its airspace from Afghanistan on Wednesday, marking a sharp escalation in cross-border hostilities between Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Kabul.
According to security sources, four drones were shot down in areas adjacent to the Torkham border crossing, while the remaining four were brought down in mountainous terrain near Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. 
The Pakistan Air Force’s air defense system detected and intercepted all eight drones before they could reach their targets, sources said, adding that wreckage was being recovered.
The drone incursion came just two days after Pakistani aircraft struck what Islamabad described as militant hideouts in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Paktika provinces. Pakistan’s Information Ministry claimed the strikes killed 28 militants, including several suicide bombers, and destroyed a suicide-bomber training center. 
Afghan authorities said at least three civilians were killed and four wounded in the airstrikes, a toll confirmed by the UN mission in Afghanistan.
Wednesday’s developments followed overnight clashes along the Durand Line. Pakistani officials said Afghan Taliban forces opened fire with heavy weapons and mortars on Pakistani border posts in the Kurram sector after Pakistani troops foiled an infiltration attempt by militants. 
The militants, described by Islamabad as “Fitna al-Khawarij,” attempted to cross from Afghan Taliban posts in Nangarhar and Paktia provinces, according to security sources.
Pakistani forces responded with artillery fire, targeting Taliban border posts and mortar positions. Officials said Afghan forces subsequently abandoned several positions and suffered casualties. The accounts could not be independently verified.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied that Afghan Taliban forces attacked Pakistani posts, according to the Associated Press.
Local residents in Paktia province reported that mortar shells struck civilian homes during the clashes, forcing some families to flee. Residents said such incidents have occurred two or three times a week over the past six months, making daily life increasingly difficult.
The escalation threatens mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to broker a lasting peace between the neighbors. On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed concern about what he said was the presence of more than two dozen anti-Pakistani militant groups operating from Afghan soil.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harboring militants responsible for cross-border attacks, including a recent assault on a police compound in Kohat that killed at least 21 people. Kabul denies the allegations, calling them an attempt to deflect from Pakistan’s internal security challenges.